Last Updated: Wednesday October 28 2009 06:32 GMT

Cheryl Cole talks about her album

She's making headlines as a judge on The X Factor, her debut single is the biggest-selling tune of the year and it's number one as well.

Now Cheryl's got her first ever solo album out too, called Three Words, and stopped for a chat with the BBC to tell people about it.

When you decided you were going to make a solo record, what were the ground rules, the conditions you gave to the record label?

Well, it started off with the programme Girls Aloud did called Passions, where we all went off and pursued interests we had outside the band, and mine was street dancing. And it ended up that the final of the whole show was going to be me dancing in the video for Will.i.am's Heartbreaker.

Then I'd hear him on the radio, or once on MTV News, and they'd ask: "Who do you want to work with?" Now don't laugh, because I did, but he said "U2 and Cheryl Cole!"

Was it a conscious decision to make the record sound completely different to Girls Aloud?

Well, everybody knows that I'm a fan of R&B music. So from the off, really, they knew that that would be the route I'd want to go down, and that I'd want to work with Will.

Are you proud of the record?

I love it. And the whole thing was, I wanted to make a record I would listen to at home. I love the Girls Aloud stuff, and I love being part of the band, but I would never come home and put on the record on repeat - but I find myself doing that with this record.

Are you able to listen back to your own vocals? A lot of people hate doing that.

Cheryl normally records her tunes with Girls Aloud

I don't with Girls Aloud, but with this one it's kind of like it's a different person. I zone out and just listen to the music.

How does it feel to be number one?

It feels weird. Really weird.

I always try to think about the worst-case scenario, like I wouldn't make it into the Top 40. How would I deal with that? But this has gone past anything I've ever expected, and I don't know how to deal with that either.

Did you realise that in one week, it has sold nearly half as many copies as Girls Aloud's biggest hit, Sound Of The Underground, did in total?

[Goes very quiet] ... Hmm.... That's crazy. How do you get your head around that?

I suppose you have to be pleased.

Yeah. I mean, I'm over the moon. I'm gonna have to be peeled off the ceiling.

Does it help to calm your nerves about the album?

I just can't wait for the album to drop now. I just think if people love the single this much, they're going to love the album.